Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

Solid copy.

A couple of years ago, but an awfully long way back through the 1001 list, we went to war in the grandfather of military sims, now known as ARMA, then known as Operation Flashpoint. It was an experience, and one that I knew I wouldn't be any good at, but was glad to have played.

The lineage of Operation Flashpoint splits in two shortly after that game. Original developers Bohemia Interactive Studio go their own way, deep into the simulation side of things with ARMA, and publishers Codemasters wait a few years before reviving the brand with a more accessible, though still simulation-based, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.

If you, like me, think ARMA is something to try, but mind-boggling to get into, Dragon Rising might just be for you.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

"Do I look like I need logic? Listen, I NEED to breathe fire!"

The Mario & Luigi line of handheld RPGs have surprised me, and they have annoyed me. I'm surprised by their control scheme and the mechanics of controlling both brothers at the same time, but I'm annoyed at how even an hour into a game - on a handheld console, remember - I'm still sitting through tutorials as the story crawls into view.

Superstar Saga on the Game Boy Advance kicked things off, Partners in Time gave us four characters to juggle, and now Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story takes us on an adventure to a part of the Mushroom Kingdom we really didn't need to see, did we?

One-Dot Enemies

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Source // Apple

The 1001 list isn't afraid to put time-wasters in the limelight, but many of them so far - if they've really not had anything else to offer gamers - have been artsy enough to get by without too many problems.

Noby Noby Boy, for example, is a 'game' about stretching until you're bored of stretching, then contributing your score to a collective goal. That's all, really, but its presentation is just as much of a talking point as its 'gameplay'.

But One-Dot Enemies is something else. It's Noby Noby Boy to the extreme, and it goes a little something like this...

Need for Speed: Shift

You're nothing if you're not racing in the World Tour. Nothing.

In stark contrast to Race Pro's engine-focused offering comes Need for Speed: Shift, a complete package of a racing simulator and attractive (though now a little dated) menu design wrapped up around a career mode that spans multiple disciplines that you actually want to try out. Sorry, Race Pro.

Fancy graphics and design can only go so far, though. If your cars suck to drive, it doesn't matter what your career mode looks like, and the Need for Speed name is at stake here. Sort of. It's been bounced around several different racing genres, for better or worse.

Okay, maybe it's not at stake, but it comes with a certain quality. Will it be on show in Shift?

Race Pro

Actually not a working title.

Source // Giant Bomb

Growing up, my idea of a racing simulator was Gran Turismo, but as this 1001 has taught me, there's a much deeper world of race sims out there, and they've got solid ground on which to drive their arguments for being better simulators.

Some of the notable highlights I've been introduced to are GT Legends for some old school authenticity, and GTR 2 for a more modern track day outing, both powering their way to the PC from SimBin Studios, and both getting me to consider putting more time and effort into unlocking their content through their respective career modes.

At some point in the late 2000s, when the consoles got beefier and the potential to make more money elsewhere was mighty tempting, it was time for the PC racing simulators to come into the living room and show players what they were missing by only playing Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport. What were Xbox 360 gamers missing? Race Pro.

Yeah, its name hardly inspires, does it? It's what under the hood that counts, though, right?

MLB 09: The Show

Bottom of the 9th? Is that a thing?

Source // PlayStation

We've all got our favourite sports, but baseball is never one of them. How could it be? It's an absolute bore. It's so boring that rather than playing MLB 09: The Show, I instead want to try and work out at what point a ball sport becomes interesting, and whether the size of the ball has anything to say about it.

Football is great, Golf sucks. Basketball is cool, Tennis absolutely isn't. Snooker, somehow, is better than Rugby, but American Football is probably better than Snooker.

While I mull that over, let's whizz through a game of MLB 09.

NHL 10

TF is a Deke?

Source // PlayStation

Here's how much interest I have in Ice Hockey: I've just had to delete my entire opening paragraph about demo discs because I had forgotten that this very 1001 list introduced us to NHL Hockey way back on the Sega Mega Drive.

Back then, I fumbled my way through a game against the Italians, who haven't seen ice in their lives, as the Canadians, who come out of the womb with a natural understanding of what a puck even is. Couldn't tell you how I won, but I can tell you that I've not played nor watched Ice Hockey since.

But here we are again, some twenty years later with NHL 10, the latest (at the time of the 1001 list, of course) offering from EA Sports, and you know what that means - the menus will look pretty much the same as FIFA and NFL, the modes will be the same, the names on the back of the shirts will be correct, and I'll have no chance.

Can't wait.

Little King's Story

For the King?

Source // Nintendo

We've all been there. We've all dreamed about ruling the world with an iron fist. It'd always be a better place if we were in charge, bossing the citizens around like the little tyrants we are. But we've never quite had a game that gives us that same feeling.

Sure, we can be powerful warriors that might as well be rulers, or command grand armies, and even build entire cities, but nothing captures the daydreams of a young kid quite like Little King's Story, a game described as - brace yourselves - a real-time strategy life simulation role-playing game for the Nintendo Wii.

Give me the crown already.

LostWinds 2: Winter of the Melodias

The space is still lost from the middle of the title.

Not too long ago, I was moaning about how both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 were both included on this list, despite being far too similar to each other, and the latter clearly putting on the better show. It's not the first time I've grumbled at such a thing, and thanks you LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias, it won't be the last.

Remember the first LostWinds, a downloadable Wii title that had you control gusts of winds to help out a little kid on whatever journey he was on? Well, if you wanted more of the same, but a bit smarter, you've come to the right place.

For everyone else - myself included - you need to look for something else to entertain yourselves with.

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure

Good show!

The Nintendo DS has two screens, so players could play two games at once, right? Something going on up top and something else going on down below. I mean, kids these days are smart enough for that, aren't they?

I'm fairly sure such a line of thought wasn't what spurred the development of Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure, but that's sort of what's going on, with the thankfully added benefit of pausing between both games, a platformer up top and a puzzler down below.

Henry Hatsworth is on the hunt for a dapper gold suit, but the adventure to get it will be unlike anything you've played before. Tea time's over, gentlemen. Onwards!